


Home of The Trost Titans

by brave_as_bear



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Football, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, American Football, Annie and Mikasa go to fighting rings on dates prove me wrong, Author Is Sleep Deprived, But kind of not, Crack, F/F, Hange and Levi coach a hs football team, Historia is a literal goddess, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Marco gets in hella fights, Marco only has one eyeball, Reiner is stronk, Sexual Humor, Shenanigans insue, This was a good idea at the time, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Ymir will cut a bitch, background levihan, gay on gay homophobia, its just kinda wild, no beta we die like men, that tag is a joke, theyre all jocks, watch as i pretend i know jack shit about football
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:42:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27818467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brave_as_bear/pseuds/brave_as_bear
Summary: . o <   < <***> >   > o ."Jesus, Reiner! Put Armin down!" Levi shouted."But he likes being tall," Reiner told him with a frown."Do I look like I care? And cHRIST- EREN, JEAN GET OFF OF EACHOTHER. SOMEBODY PULL THEM APART I DON'T WANT ANY BLOODY NOSES TODAY."Levi ran a thumb along his brow, today was going to a rough day... But then again, when is it not?. o <   < <***> >   > o .The 104th Training Corps learns the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school football.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager, Jean Kirstein & Eren Yeager, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart, Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover
Comments: 40
Kudos: 130





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Spiceypeppers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spiceypeppers/gifts).



> This fic started building a home in my head when me and a friend went into probably way too much detail designing this AU for about 5 hours straight. It's a mash of all the funky headcanons we came up with in that time.  
> This is also my first AOT fic so I'm really excited to be posting, but enough jibber jabber...  
> Here's Chapter Numero Uno
> 
> (also warning, there is pretty homophobic language used in this fic, but know it's all in jest from one gay to another. a lot of the interactions are based on how my friends and I (a bunch of gays) poke fun at each other so I know that they're not being serious but I wanted to put the warning in case anyone is sensitive to that type of teasing)

“Man, you gotta stop doing that,” Ymir muttered as they watched the ambulance drive away through the foggy locker room windows.

“Doing what?” Marco feigned ignorance as he put his shirt on and continued to tousle his damp hair in a towel, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You keep pulling shit like that and they’ll kick you from the league, and trust me. None of us want that,” Levi’s steady voice demanded attention as he pushed his way into the locker room, “Anyways, forget about that for now, let's go over what happened in the game.”

“Connie’s still out there with Historia getting patched up though,” Armin pointed out to which Levi waved a dismissive hand.

“I already sent him home, he’s had a long day. Historia offered to take him, so I let her go as well.”

“All right. You heard the man, gather up, Titans!” Reiner’s loud voice shouted, reaching the back of the locker room to let anyone who wasn’t already part of the huddle to hustle over.

Eren and Jean wobbled over to the group. Eren tried, and failed, to hide a brand new shiner while Jean cradled his jaw and gingerly shook out his hand.

Reiner let out an exaggerated sigh and grabbed the two boys by the backs of their necks and pulled them roughly into the huddle, sliding his arms the rest of the way around their shoulders.

“And here I thought all that commotion back there was you two finally, y’know, fuckin’,”

Jean and Eren both whipped around to look at him with equally scandalized expressions on their faces. 

“I’M NOT GAY,” they shrieked in unison. Marco snorted, Armin rubbed his temples, and many other quiet noises of disbelief filled the cramped area.

“Yeah okay fruitcake numbers one and two,” Reiner rolled his eyes. Bertolt smacked his muscled shoulder.

If they were any less of men, there would have been a double temper tantrum style meltdown right then and there. Instead, they scoffed and tried their best to avoid eye contact.

“Now that everyone's favorite problem children are done hashing it out, I’d like to get back to our discussion,” started Levi. He scanned his team’s faces to make sure everyone was paying attention. He stopped at Sasha and sighed at her dejected face and pinched the bridge of his nose, “What is it, Sasha?”

“It’s nothing, coach… It’s just that, well,” Sasha poked her index fingers together, she looked up to meet Levi’s eyes with a pout, “I thought  _ I  _ was your favorite problem child...”

“Jesus christ. You’re  _ all  _ my favorite problem children, okay? Is that good?” Levi held his head in his hands, wondering when Hange would bust in and save him from his misery. He pushed his hands through his hair, “Now, let me finish going over the game or else you all get to stay after even later until this entire place is spotless.”

A synchronous ‘yes, coach.’ echoed throughout the locker room.

  
  


. o < < <***> > > o .

The meet lasted only about twenty minutes, coming to a stop when Hange slammed open the door and ran in to tell them all that Marco’s football career would not be damaged by the fight that he had not started (but in all terms of the word, had finished), but to, as Hange said, ‘pretty pretty please try not to do it again’.

Marco had only chuckled and said, “We’ll see,” rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, which was an odd look on the Titan’s six foot tall linebacker. Though it was quite endearing, and if anyone saw Jean blushing they didn’t say anything.

“You’re free to go, cadets!” Hange wished them well and pushed them out the locker room door into the cool late summer night.

“What is this? Boot camp?” Mikasa muttered. Ymir let out a short laugh.

“Might as well be, with how Coach Levi is running us into the ground,” Annie responded coldly. 

“Don’t let him hear you, I don't want extra laps tomorrow,” Sasha shivered at the thought.

Behind the girls Armin inspected Marco’s knuckles, turning them over gently, trying to get the best look he could with the limited light of the setting sun and street lamps.

“I don’t think anything is broken,” Marco said, wincing as he flexed his hand.

“Yeah, I’d say you’re right,” Armin agreed, the look of concern on his face fading just slightly, “Sorry, I’m not as good as Historia when it comes to medical stuff.” 

Eren ran up to the two of them and bopped Armin lightly on the shoulder.

“Why don’t you ever check any of my injuries?” he whined holding out his own scraped knuckles for Armin to look at.

Armin looked slowly from Eren’s hand to his eyes, a look of dry amusement on his face.

“Do you really think you deserve it?” he asked.

“Ha! Get fucked Jager, not even your  _ boyfriend  _ wants to deal with your bullshit,” came Jean’s voice as he caught up with the rest of the group. 

Eren scowled.

“He’s not my- you know what, I’m too tired for this shit-” he lunged across Armin in an attempt to grab Jean who had tried to do the same. However, they both found themselves being restrained by Reiner and Bertolt who had closed in from behind them.

“Woah woah woah, little man,” Reiner mused, holding back a flailing Eren, “You say you’re too tired to argue so you try to jump him instead? Cold blooded.”

“Two fights is plenty for one day,” Bertolt scolded sofly, releasing Jean who tsked shook off the hand from his shoulder.

“Oh yeah! I totally forgot, that was epic, dude! That wasn’t even a fight, it was a fucking slaughter, man,” Reiner rustled Marco’s hair with one hand as the other was preoccupied with carrying an extremely irate Eren like a sack of potatoes.

Marco smiled sheepishly again, shrugging his shoulders.

“The guy was about to beat the shit out of Connie, I just got in his way. No big deal,”

“Yeah, your fist got in the way of his face. You did save Connie from a beating though, ever the good samaritan,” Reiner shook his head wistfully.

“I don’t know if you could quite call it that. Coach Hange said he had four teeth knocked out,” Bertolt interjected.

“Whatever, man. I say he deserved it,” Eren said, pushing at Reiner’s arm.

“Yeah, he had a solid foot on the kid, woulda messed him up pretty good,” Jean agreed.

“I just wish I had gotten there a few seconds earlier, then maybe he’d be walking home with us now,” Marco sighed. 

“Hey, man, listen. You go above and beyond for this team every day. You get in the most fights out of anyone here because you hate it when we get hurt. That means you care. So I don’t want to hear you talk about how you “could’ve, should’ve or would’ve”, you bust your ass for us and you still manage to keep that dopey smile on your face. So stop worrying about what could’ve happened and just be happy that it wasn’t worse. I don’t like seeing you sad, man,” Jean told him matter of factly. 

Marco stopped walking, causing the rest of them to stop as well and look back at their friend.

“Thank you, Jean,” he said, eyes shining with renewed life, “That was… that was really nice.”

Jean met Marco’s eyes and felt his face warm up, immediately looking back to the ground in front of him, “I just said what everyone was thinking, no need to thank me.”

“Come on, let's go. It’s getting dark,” Reiner said patting them on the backs, falling into even pace with Bertolt, he leaned in to whisper in Bertolt's ear, “how long d’ya think it’ll take before Jean admits he’s gay for Marco?”

Bertolt scoffed and pushed him to the side, causing the other to stumble. Reiner laughed as he returned the light shove. 

Bertolt tugged at Reiner’s sweatshirt, “First of all, bold of you to assume he’s not gay for the better part of this team. I’ve heard him grumbling to himself about how hot Eren is shirtless, he was legitimately angry about it. It was kinda weird. Nonetheless, that man is almost as gay as you. Secondly, he won’t admit it until someone forces it out of him,” he whispered.

“Really? Eren shirtless? He could do better,” he whispered back, “Do you ever think the he and Eren would-”

“No. Never. And if they would, I don’t wanna think about it. Besides, he’s head over heels for Marco, he just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“What are you two whispering about over there?” Armin side eyed them uneasily.

“Yeah, ya’ mind sharing with the class?” Jean prodded.

A grin grew on Reiner’s face and Bertolt got nervous, but not nervous enough to stop Reiner from saying whatever he was about to say.

He should have stopped him.

“Well if you really must know, Bertolt and I were just discussing how when we get home I’m going to rail him into the mattress so hard he forgets his own name and-” 

“WOAAHH, OKAY,” Bertolt shouted slapping his hands over Reiner’s mouth, only for them to be licked to which he pulled them away and wiped them off on Reiner’s face.

“Augh, gross,” Reiner complained. 

“Your spit. Your fault,” Bertolt informed him, “Sorry about that,” he said to a mildly traumatized Armin.

“It’s fine, I just- I- yeah- you know what? I hope you have fun,” he stuttered.

“Hey Armin?” Eren said blankly.

“Yeah?”

“How hard do you think you’d have to hit me for me to forget everything he just said?” Eren asked.

“I’m not giving you a concussion.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Armin, I love you. But now is not the time to start going easy on me,” he pleaded.

“If he gets one, I want one, too,” Jean said, knocking lightly at his own head.

From the front of the group Mikasa turns around to see both Jean and Eren begging Armin to hit them while Marco watches the three with an exasperated smile, Bertolt with his head in his hands looking extremely embarrassed and Reiner looking a little too proud of himself.

“What do you think they’re-” she started.

“I don’t even want to know,” Ymir cut in.

“It’s probably better that way,” Annie said.

“Yeah, you're probably right,” Mikasa agrees, turning back around and continuing forward.

“Oop- This is my stop guys! See y’all tomorrow!” Sasha called as she headed up her driveway, waving from her front door before stepping inside.

  
  


. o < < <***> > > o .

  
  


After Sasha left conversation fell into an easy rhythm with the occasional outbursts of laughter as one by one the team returned back home. At last the only ones left were those who lived farthest from the school building; Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Reiner and Bertolt.

“Later,” Armin bid the last of the team goodbye, Mikasa gave them a curt nod trying her best not to jostle the now sleeping Eren whom she carried on her back.

“Yeah, g’night guys. Sweet dreams,” Reiner said. Once they made sure Mikasa and Armin got up their front steps with Eren without any complication Reiner slung an arm around Bertolts shoulder, “Why don't you ever carry me like that?”

Bertolt turned to face him, “babe, you’re like, two hundred pounds of pure muscle. There’s no way I’m lugging your beefy ass the two and a half miles it takes to get home.”

Reiner shrugged.

“I’m going to take that as a compliment. Personally, I think you could do it.”

“Yeah okay, whatever you say.” there was a brief moment of silence. Bertolt looked over to find that Reiner had his thinking face on. He sighed, “What is it?”

“So, we know about Jean’s fat crush on Marco,” aaaand here we go, Bertolt was already regretting asking, “but, what about Eren?”

“What about him?” 

“He and Arlet are really close, and I mean  _ really  _ close, you should see the looks that kid gives the other teams when they find out Armin’s our QB. He makes sure they don’t have anything to say about it,” he explains.

Bertolt thought for a moment, “I mean, that’s not too out of the ordinary. You know how many fights Ymir gets into on behalf of Hist- ooooooh yeah, I get it now. Yeah, that makes sense.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Also today he said “I love you” to him and I know it was because he wanted to be on the receiving end of Armin’s fists but I bet he meant it at least a little,” Reiner reasoned.

Bertolt rolled his eyes, “make sure you stretch again when we get home ‘cause that was a major reach.”

“Ooh, zinger. Nice one, babe.”

The two turned off the road onto the small sidewalk leading to their house. Reiner pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and clumsily unlocked the door. They threw their bags next to the door and Bertolt collapsed onto the small couch as Reiner brought them both over two glasses of water. 

“Dinner?” Bertolt questioned hopefully.

“We still got some of that pasta from last night we could heat up,” Reiner offered.

“Sounds good.”

Reiner got back up and headed to the fridge, “Back to the topic of Arlet and Jaeger…”

Bertolt groaned.

“I just don’t know whether that “I love you” was like a “you’re a good homie” kind of “I love you” or a “please rail me on the couch as soon as we get inside” kind of “I love you”,” Reiner thought out loud.

“What is it with you and railing today?” Bertolt chuckled with a quirked eyebrow.

“Hm… I don’t know. Hey  _ raaandom _ question, after we eat do you wanna-”

“No.” Bertolt cut his boyfriend off. “After we eat  _ I  _ am going to bed. And so are you. It’s Only Tuesday and it’s already 10:30 because the game ran late.”

“Whatever,  _ mom.  _ You’re no fun,” Reiner pouted.

Bertolt huffed out a laugh and picked up a book that had been left on the side table. 

It only took a few moments before he heard the obnoxious beeping of the microwave and Reiner’s small yelp because he burnt his hand on the dish.

“Dinner is served, my love. Bon appetit,” he gestured into the dining room where he had set their meal.

“Thank you very much, my good sir,” Bertolt smiled, pressing a small kiss to Reiner’s lips before digging into the steaming pasta.

It tasted like a game well played.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse into classroom life at Trost High

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm REALLY sorry for how long this second chapter took to come out  
> I made Marco and Ymir cousins, so don't get confused when it's mentioned that they grew up together :)
> 
> there's also a PLAYLIST for this fic that you can find at this link that I made that fits the vibe
> 
> But that's enough from me, I hope you enjoy!

Connie groaned and laid his head on the cold desk, sending a dull throb through his aching head. A sudden jolt made him look up to see who disturbed his slim moment of peace before his first class started. 

“Ah, shit. Sorry, Connie,” Hitch said, meeting his tired glare with an apologetic glace as she moved her bag off the leg of Connie’s desk where she’d haphazardly tossed it.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” he told her, taking a deep breath, only to choke on the air. He took another sniff of the air and his face twisted in disgust, “Really? Hitch, it’s not even nine a.m..”

“You're out of your damn mind if you think I’m sitting through this class sober,” She yawned.

Fair enough, Connie thought. He laid his head back into his arms only to be disrupted once again, this time by Hange who burst through the door finally ready to start the class.

“HELLO ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES A PERIOD!” She shouted to the class who met her with silence and tired stares.

“It’s alright kiddos, I have  _ just  _ the thing to spice up this drab Wednesday morning!” She then pulled a large bag from behind her back, holding it up for the unenthusiastic class to see.

The bag rustled and suddenly, most of the class was quite a bit more awake than before.

“Um… Dr. Hange?” one student ventured.

“Yes?” they said, seemingly blissfully unaware that whatever was in the bag was now trying it’s absolute best to, well, not be in the bag.

“What is that?”

“This, my friends, is a squirrel I found on the way to school today! This little guy is going to be our test subject for our next study: how small mammals react under stress!” And with that they released the bag.

Screams, shouts, and just panicked noises in general filled the classroom as the rodent scrambled to find an exit. 

“Coach?!” Connie called to Hange from on top of his desk (legs tucked up so the squirrel couldn’t reach them, he never really got along with the small wildlife) he half expected to find them maniacally laughing at the chaos they had caused, but they were calmly taking notes on the animals behavior. They looked around to see who had asked for them.

“It’s Dr. Hange in the classroom, squirt. What’s up?” ignoring the pandemonium she had let loose in the classroom.

Connie was about to respond when the door of the classroom flew open revealing the next-door teacher and principal.

“Levi! Erwin! What wonderful timing! Have you come to observe this morning’s study? Do close the door though, we don’t want our new friend to escape!” Hange waved to them.

Levi ignored her, leaving Erwin to shut the door, and headed to the opposite side of the classroom to open the windows. He turned to her.

“One of these days, Hange, I am going to lose my mind. And it will be your fault.”

“How did you even manage to catch that in the first place?” Asked Erwin who was helping students filter out of the classroom while making sure the squirrel didn’t run into the hallway.

“You do  _ not  _ want to know, I think it was worth it though, lots of good data!” They beamed.

Finally the poor rodent figured out how to make its way up the makeshift ramp Levi had put together leading to the open window and was freed back to the outside world.

“Aww, goodbye, Marlin!” Hange wiped a tear from their eye.

“You named it?” Levi side eyed her.

Hange nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course you did.”

“The kids are good to come back in, right?” Erwin asked.

“Yup, let ‘em in,” Hange answered.

The students filtered back into the classroom chatting idly looking just as bored as before, slowly finding their seats.

“Please stop bringing wild animals into the school, Hange,” Erwin ordered politely.

“Stop? But I’ve only-”

“Three times, Hange. Three times this month. It’s filthy, we don’t know what kinds of disgusting diseases those things carry. Plus, my students can’t concentrate with all the screaming, it’s quite aggravating,” said Levi.

Hange pouted.

“You know he’s right. It’s for the safety of your students,” Erwin reasoned. Hange nodded sadly; Erwin patted their shoulder and left the classroom, Levi on his heels.

Hange turned back to the class looking extremely dejected.

“If it counts for anything, I enjoyed the study, Dr. Hange,” Historia offered.

“Thank you, kind girl. Unfortunately, we will not be having any more ‘surprise studies’ because  _ apparently  _ they are ‘unsanitary’ and I ‘shouldn't be exposing my students to wild animals’” She explained to the class.

“Thank god,” Connie whispered under his breath, “One more of those and I think I would have have a fucking aneurysm,” 

Hitch snorted from beside him and Historia threw him a knowing look.

  
  


. o < < <***> > > o .

  
  


“All right. Now that that fiasco is over, let’s get back to work shall we?”

Eren groaned. History was supposed to be a good class. It really was. Until Mr. ‘Stick Up The Ass’ Ackerman had to take over when the old history teacher, Erwin Smith, was made the principal. Now instead of roleplaying as soldiers, peons and royalty he was stuck naming every general that ever served in some irrelevant ancient society in chronological order.

He groaned and mumbled something about still not knowing how to do taxes, Marco shrugged and gave him a small reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Lunch was still almost two hours away. He was fully prepared to wither away and leave a pile his ashes behind just to fuck up Levi’s prestine classroom.

Boisterous laughter filled the hallway and Levi stalked over to shut the door.

  
  


. o < < <***> > > o .

The trapezoidal table shook as Reiner used it as a brace to hold him up through his laughter.

“It really wasn’t that funny. You literally just wrote ‘boobies’ on your calculator,” Bertolt said, which was apparently not a great idea, because Reiner doubled over in another fit of laughter.

“You’re gonna fail this class and I’m not even gonna feel bad about it,” Jean huffed.

“You know that’s a fat fucking lie, I’m the only reason you haven’t failed this class to begin with,” Reiner shot back. It was true, Reiner may be a meathead but it was due to his and Bertolt’s help that Jean’s grades hadn’t dipped into the ‘uh oh’ region.

“Yeah, put some respect on our captain’s name, twinkle toes,” Ymir leaned dangerously far back in her chair.

“I like the sound of that, maybe I’ll make you do some extra laps today, huh, Jean? Just for funsies,” He teased.

“You wouldn’t,” Jean challenged, narrowing his eyes.

“You wanna find out, pipsqueak?” Reiner grinned and squared him up.

“Ladies! Ladies, please,” Ymir waved her hands between the two, “save this for the field... or at least lunch, because it looks like we’re about to get on Professor Pixie Stix naughty list.”

“Mr. Pyxis is gonna hate it when he finds out you call him that,” Bertolt said.

“Easy solution: No one tell him. Plus, for all the hell he puts us through I think he deserves a funky nickname,” She reasons, “Seriously though, I’m like two weeks behind.”

“If you need help, feel free to come over after practice and we can help you out,” Bertolt offered.

“God, Bertolt, you guys are lifesavers! Can I come over today?” She wailed and draped herself lazily over his shoulders.

“Sure, you want to order a pizza for dinner?” Reiner asked excitedly, “Jean, you should come, too. We could have a study party for the test next week!”

“As if. You guys can have your little gay party by yourselves, I’m going into town with Marco after practice today,” he scoffed.

“Congrats on finally scoring a date, man,” Bertolt smiled at him.

“You’re ditching us to have your own gay party? I’d normally chew you out more for that but maybe if you get some ass you’ll stop being such a little cunt all the time,” Ymir pulled a piece of gum from Jean’s bag and began chewing it.

“One, I’m not a cunt and I’m going to tell Historia you said that, you stale bitch. Two, we’re not going on a date. We’re just going to get something to eat and hang out- and that sounds exactly like a date, doesn’t it? Shit,” Jean looked into space and reflected on all his life decisions and what went wrong to lead up to him maybe accidentally asking his best friend on a date while Reiner began losing his shit once again, earning another stern glare from Pyxis.

“It’s okay, I’m sure Marco’s not bothered,” Bertolt assures him.

“Oh yeah, I grew up with that punk, he’ll be juuust fine,” Ymir winked. Whatever that meant. 

A loud noise broke through the chatter of the classroom. Finally, lunch.

Jean hopped out of his seat eager to have last night's leftovers (who the fuck gets excited to eat cold pizza) when he runs face first into the man himself.

“Oh hey Jean, ready to go?” Marco asked, holding up two lunch bags.

“Yeah hold up, I’m still reeling over getting a faceful of your tit,”

“C’mon, man. That wasn’t my tit. Now if I was Bertl’s height… maybe. But nah, that was all collar bone babiee,” he said patting where Jean’s chin had hit his clavicle.

“ _ Gayyyyy _ ” Ymir whispered in Jean’s ear as she, Reiner, and Bertolt passed them on the way to the cafeteria, snickering and the angry look cast her way.

Jean huffed and turned back to face Marco. Finally noting the fact the other was carrying two lunches, he raised an eyebrow in suspicion. 

“Why do you have two?”

“It’s for you.”

“Huh?”

“I said it’s for you.”

“No, no, I heard that. Why though?” 

Marco chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, the last time you came over you said that you, like,  _ realllly  _ liked what my Auntie had made for dinner and well, she made it again so I thought you might…” his explanation trailed off.

When he looked back the other was staring at him with genuine stars in his eyes.

“You brought that...” he pointed to the lunch bag, then back to himself, “for me?”

“Uh huh,” Marco nodded.

“THANK YOU,” he threw his arms around the taller male.

“Woah there, we’re in the middle of the hallway, we’re gonna kill somebody,” Marco chuckled.

“At this point I wouldn’t even care, your aunt’s cooking is a godsend. I’m shocked Ymir shares any blood with that woman at all. She’s the reason we don’t have a microwave here anymore, you know, she fucking blew it up. Twice. Now I’m stuck with cold pizza. By the way how are we gonna heat that up?” Jean babbled.

“Don’t worry, it's in a thermos, it should still be warm,” he said, peeking into one of the bags, “If not I’m stealing some of your nasty cold pizza and we can save that for later, when it’ll be good. Now let’s go before Eren puts paint on your seat again.” 

  
  


  
  


. o < < <***> > > o .

  
  


“I’m not falling for that damn trick twice, Jaeger,”

“It’s not the same, last time it was paint,” Eren argued, wiping copious amounts of glitter off of Jean’s seat.

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you, too, horsey,” Eren stuck out this tongue. 

“Eren, Jean. Can we have a normal lunch as a team for once?” Historia smiled sweetly at them but everyone in at least a five mile radius could feel the temperature drop. Sasha was pretty sure she saw frost covering the windows. A mad Historia was not a fun Historia.

“Yeah, c’mon, let's just eat. We need to be ready for practice, right? By the way Connie, how is your head doing? And Marco, what about your hand?” Armin’s voice immediately lifted the dense air that had fallen over the table and people turned back to their food and began eating while Connie reported that he was good and just needed to take it easy during practice and Marco assured him that his knuckles were fine and shouldn’t pose an issue to his playing.

Armin grinned at them and sent them to enjoy their lunches. Although he was one of the smallest on the team, everyone knew better than to get on the bad side of their mastermind quarterback. No one was dumb enough to  _ not _ do what he says, this fact often leaking into their time spent together off the field as well, with no one (save for Annie, who he had a weird mutual respect pact thingy with) being able to say no to him at any given point.

Many new opponents underestimated his skill and were none to happy when they lost to the modest blond, leading them to lash out with words and actions which, more often than not, leave Eren (and a fair share of other teammates) limping off the field or out of the locker room with bruised knuckles and bloody noses, not being able to stand for the unwarranted slander of his best friend and strategic genius of the Trost High football team.

“Aww, our two little angels are keeping everyone in line,” Reiner cooed, “I wish I could do that too but I think I’m too big for anyone to think of me as cute.”

“C’mon man,” Ymir shouldered him, “I think you’re adorable, big guy.”

Bertolt nodded in agreement and patted his back warmly.

“We love our huge, adorable lug of a captain!” Sasha shouted and flung herself around his shoulders from behind.

“AYE! What was that for!?” She cried, gently holding the hand that had just been smacked.

“Give it back Sash,” Reiner held out his own hand expectantly.

Her eyes narrowed.

She hissed at him and turned to run away only to run face first into Connie. He wrapped his arms around her middle to prevent her from running away but the linebacker was not so easily deterred. 

She twisted and turned violently trying to escape the smaller boy’s strong grip. He winced as the rough denim seams of his jacket ground into the soft spots of his arms. After a few more seconds of trying to keep her in place Connie decided that the skin of his arms was more important than Reiner’s cookie so he let her go and watched her scurry out the doors of the cafeteria and around the corner, out of sight of the team.

“Sorry Reiner, I couldn’t hold her any longer,” he apologized. 

“It’s okay. Damn, that was one of the special ones Bertl makes,” he sighed with a frown. 

Bertolt reached into his own lunch bag and pulled out an identical cookie and handed it to Reiner who’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears of appreciation. Reiner took the cookie, broke it in half and handed half back to Bertolt.

“Connie, c’mere,” he called. Connie walked back over to Reiner, who broke apart the half of cookie he had left and gave it to Connie, “You were a brave soldier, standing up to that monster. You deserve this.”

Connie graciously accepted the piece of cookie and the head pat that came with it and headed back to his own seat. After that the lunch period progressed smoothly with only occasional argumentative noises coming from Jean and Eren’s side of the table, for a few moments at least.

“Can I get you something?” Came the voice of one of the cafeteria workers from across the large room.

“No thank you, I’m just here to say hello to some of my students,” responded Hange politely as they made their way to the table that hosted the team.

“What’s up, Coach?” Armin asked, a worried look threatening to take over his face.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.  _ I hope. _ ” they muttered the last bit under their breath, “I was just wondering if there was any particular reason why Sasha just ran past my classroom door on all fours with some type of food in her mouth.”

A collective sigh came from around the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed!!! I super appreciate comments, they help me do better!
> 
> Hopefully it'll be less that three weeks until next chapter haha...ha...h

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed!! Please let me know what you think in the comments! I respond to all of them and it they really help me grow as a writer so they are much appreciated!


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